French Word of the Day: Dodo
This French word does not have anything to do with the extinct bird*.
Why do I need to know dodo?
Because this French word might be baby talk, but you’ll still hear adults use it all the time.
What does it mean?
Dodo - roughly pronounced doe-doe - is a shortened version of the verb dormir (to sleep).
It's not just a contraction though, the word has a distinctly babyish tone as well - it is the rough equivalent of the English term ‘beddy-bye’.
It likely comes from an 18th century lullaby (Fais dodo) sung to children before bedtime - the lyrics went Papa est en haut qui fait des bateaux pour le p'tit Pierrot qui fait son dodo (Papa is upstairs making boats for little Pierrot who is going to bed). These days, there are other variations of the song.
You’re most likely to hear this expression when spending time with young children - as it is basically just baby-talk - but adults use it frequently as well.
If you’ve overstayed your welcome after a dinner party, your French friend might yawn and say au dodo (“off to bed”).
Usually the verb faire comes before dodo, so you might tell a small child tu vas bientôt faire dodo (You are going to bed soon).
There are plenty of children’s songs about bedtime that use this word too, and they’ll likely reference some variation of la routine du dodo (the bedtime routine).
If an important event is coming up, you may even see French media refer to the number of days remaining by saying that only a certain number of dodos are left.
The most famous usage of the word is in the phrase - Metro, boulot, dodo, which describes the soul-crushing 'commute, work, sleep' routine for some workers living in big cities.
Use it like this
Je vais pas tarder moi. C’est l’heure du dodo. - I am not going to stay too much longer. It’s bedtime.
Encore un petit dodo avant Noël ! - Just one more sleep before Christmas!
Depuis ma promotion, c'est métro, boulot, dodo ! - Ever since my promotion I do nothing but commute, work and sleep
* And if for some reason you do need to refer to the extinct species that is the dodo in French, that would be l'oiseau dodo
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Why do I need to know dodo?
Because this French word might be baby talk, but you’ll still hear adults use it all the time.
What does it mean?
Dodo - roughly pronounced doe-doe - is a shortened version of the verb dormir (to sleep).
It's not just a contraction though, the word has a distinctly babyish tone as well - it is the rough equivalent of the English term ‘beddy-bye’.
It likely comes from an 18th century lullaby (Fais dodo) sung to children before bedtime - the lyrics went Papa est en haut qui fait des bateaux pour le p'tit Pierrot qui fait son dodo (Papa is upstairs making boats for little Pierrot who is going to bed). These days, there are other variations of the song.
You’re most likely to hear this expression when spending time with young children - as it is basically just baby-talk - but adults use it frequently as well.
If you’ve overstayed your welcome after a dinner party, your French friend might yawn and say au dodo (“off to bed”).
Usually the verb faire comes before dodo, so you might tell a small child tu vas bientôt faire dodo (You are going to bed soon).
There are plenty of children’s songs about bedtime that use this word too, and they’ll likely reference some variation of la routine du dodo (the bedtime routine).
If an important event is coming up, you may even see French media refer to the number of days remaining by saying that only a certain number of dodos are left.
The most famous usage of the word is in the phrase - Metro, boulot, dodo, which describes the soul-crushing 'commute, work, sleep' routine for some workers living in big cities.
Use it like this
Je vais pas tarder moi. C’est l’heure du dodo. - I am not going to stay too much longer. It’s bedtime.
Encore un petit dodo avant Noël ! - Just one more sleep before Christmas!
Depuis ma promotion, c'est métro, boulot, dodo ! - Ever since my promotion I do nothing but commute, work and sleep
* And if for some reason you do need to refer to the extinct species that is the dodo in French, that would be l'oiseau dodo
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